I Regret Nothing!
by emperor fabulous
Summary: It wasn't always about The Chosen One . Who was Voldie before he was Voldie? What are the names of Snape's favorite Puffskeins? Did Lily and James actually have their own lives? LEJP, possible slash. Updated when I feel like it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Lily and James aren't mine, but their backgrounds I've made up as I don't think there's any written record (so don't get mad at me for making James Scottish. It just works with his character). But you should get reading before I give too much away…**

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Chapter 1:

_Lily_

Well, this was certainly different. As she stepped onto Platform 9 and ¾, Muggle-born Lily Evans allowed the sights and sounds of magical London to envelop her. The rather short, very curvy red-haired girl felt rather out of place.

Her parents were very kind and extremely well-adjusted, but they were (to put it bluntly), excruciatingly boring. Mr. and Mrs. Evans had raised their two daughters, Lily and Petunia, in a modest three-bedroom house in the heart of Muggle Bradford. The average, boring, B+ lifestyle that Lily had known since childbirth almost suffocated her. She loved to take her bicycle out of the city and onto the moors, where she could just lie flat and look at the sky. Instead of the claustrophobic clusters of bent and ancient houses, instead of the smell of exhaust, of smoke, of PEOPLE, there was simply the smell of fresh clean heather and the sound of the wind as it whistled across the open sea of grass. Sometimes she convinced herself that if she didn't hold the grass tightly enough, she would simply float away.

Lily remembered the day she had gotten her letter. She had had a terrible day at school. The headmistress herself had called Lily to her office and reprimanded her for "improper conduct". The fact of the matter was, St. Lucinda's Institution For the Betterment and Instruction of Young Ladies just did not slake Lily's thirst for knowledge. She had been reading a book borrowed from the local library and had tuned out her Maths Mistress, to the glee of her sister Petunia. Petunia took every opportunity to pull the rug out from under her older sister, of whom she was heartachingly envious. Seeing those striking green eyes eating up pages of text that Petunia's watery blue ones could never comprehend while being forced to understand sines and cosines was just too much to take. Angelic Petunia was rewarded for vigilance and a seething Lily was sent to see Headmistress Princhin.

High off of her triumph at school, Petunia rushed home and lost no time in regaling her parents with Lily's "disrespect for Miss Princhin and the establishment", so that when Lily trudged tiredly in the door her parents were ready and waiting with their lectures. It wasn't that Lily's parents didn't _love_ her. They just expected more from her. They wanted her to succeed in life, but they couldn't do it for her! Lily took one look at the faces of her apologetic, disappointed, _wishy-washy_ parents and smug little sister, turned on her heel and was out the door.

Not, however, before a large parchment envelope caught her eye. _Lily Evans, Number Two Beecham Square, City Of Bradford, England_ was written elegantly upon it in bottle-green ink. She took it from the kitchen table on her way out the door, rode her bicycle to her favorite spot outside of town and read the letter that would change her life forever.

And so, here she was in a world she could never have imagined, much less have believed in. She was a little lost, perhaps. A little unsure, definetly. But as she boarded the great scarlet train she thought that what lay in store for her had to be miles better than what lay behind.

_James_

James was astounded. He took in his surroundings avidly, trying to taste the crimson paint of the Hogwarts Express, to hear all of the various conversations that whistled past his ears like so many raindrops. He'd been on Platform 9 and ¾ before, of course, but, for the first time, he would leave it for Hogwarts. He wanted to experience this moment in as many ways as possible. James had heard stories from his parents about the school and had seen wide and varied cousins off on the same train that was now steaming in front of him, but never before had the adventure been _his_.

He turned around to look at his parents, who were off talking to the Longbottoms. They had raised him well, if a bit indulgently, in a suburb of Wizarding Edinburgh (A/N pronounced Edin-burra for all you heathenish types out there). He'd been homeschooled until now, to the delight and dismay of his parents. They'd loved teaching their pride and joy, but James had a penchant for pranking. His unusually bright mind took everything they taught him and his unique (and, it has to be said, a little queer) sense of humor twisted it. And so, it was with only a little regret that they let their little boy who wanted to learn all the wrong things go to far-off Hogwarts to be taught by the best minds of the Wizarding world.

The train whistle screamed, and they hurried to say their goodbyes.

"Be good, James! We'll see you at Christmas!" "Remember to write!"

And, with that, he was off!

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**A/N Sorry James is so small. This will be a mostly Lily story, but I wanted to get their backgrounds set up so that when I need James's point of view, you can see where he comes from.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Lily_

Lily made her way down the slowly rocking corridor, looking in vain for an empty compartment. She was sure she would make a fool of herself with any witch or wizard she happened to meet, but as she'd reached the end of the train she knew she'd have to make a decision. Would she sit with the vapid-looking blonde reading _Witch Weekly_? Never! She retraced her steps and looked in the next window. The gaggle of freckled girls who had been giggling and talking stopped as one and gave her icy, condescending stares until she moved on. It was beginning to look hopeless when Lily heard a voice.

"Oi!" it said in an authoritative way. Lily turned around and found herself face-to-face with her exact opposite. She was a tall, lanky girl with a boyish figure and a spiky look to her all around, with high, sharp cheekbones, long legs, pale skin and blonde hair. Her hair was possibly her strangest feature, being cut extremely short, like a boy's. She wore long, dark jeans with vines embroidered from the waistband down and a black t-shirt that proclaimed 'Out-Of-Order'.

"Come sit with us," grinned the girl and disappeared into the compartment. Lily wasn't so sure about her new companion, but despite her misgivings she soon found herself sitting across from the girl. Well, girls.

"My name's Pandora Agalia Rosalind Fantasia Phillips, but you can call me Box." said the spiky girl, "And this is my devoted lackey, Aubrey Blackstone".

"Hey!" exclaimed the kind-looking girl next to her. "I resent that! And I'll tell you for a fact that it was most certainly not me who carried our owl-cages out of Diagon Alley."

"Well obviously you couldn't, dancing around as you were. I still say that boy from Flourish and Blotts put a hex on you." Aubrey blushed and turned her attention to a loose thread in her sweater.

Aubrey did seem the kind of girl to dance in the street. She was of medium height and build, not stick-thin and boyish like Box and most certainly not as curvaceous as Lily. She had loosely curled nut-brown hair that was swept up into a large bun at the crown of her head from which a few loose tendrils escaped. Her tawny eyes twinkled at Lily as if sharing an inside joke as she asked, "And by whose presence is this humble compartment graced?"

Lily introduced herself, and soon the three girls were chattering like excited sparrows over piles of chocolate frogs as the English countryside whizzed by their windows.

_James_

James had spent the past two hours happily engaged in conversation with some of the funniest people he'd ever met.(Although this wasn't saying much, seeing as James had had very few friends his own age. But I digress...)He'd wandered the train until he found an empty compartment and was watching England flash past the windows when a loud thump brought him back to reality.

"Sirius! You cannot run through walls!" yelled a voice from further down the corridor.

"But I was _winning!_" complained the thing that had thumped against James's door.

"Well, not anymore. You owe me two chocolate frogs and a sacrifice to the gods of Wowyousuck." crowed the voice that was slowly coming nearer.

"Remus, this is such a stupid, childish game…" said the Thing in a bored, superior manner.

"Well, my dear old chap, it was you who invented it!"

James watched with interest as, one by one, ten fingers assembled themselves on the ledge of the compartment window. These were followed by a head of smooth black hair and two very blue eyes that looked at James with curiosity.

"What on earth are you looking at?" said a brown haired boy who had just come into view.

"D'you know, old bean, I do believe this chap's snickering at us!"

"Punishment must be doled out. Come now, up with you."

Remus helped Sirius to his feet and opened the door of the compartment. Sirius plopped down on the opposite seat, while Remus sat next to James. They introduced themselves at once, producing a sound like JassriumusPoBlupin.

"Let's try that again, shall we?" said James, and proper introductions were made.

"Sirius Black, Professional Prankster"

"Remus Lupin, Reluctant Accomplice"

"James Potter, Rather Amused. Are you both first-years as well?"

"Indeedy. Ol' Hogwarts won't know what hit it."

At this, Remus gave a rather large sigh.

James looked amusedly at the two boys. They were like Dud and Pete, Gilbert and Sullivan, any cliché double-act you could think of. And he rather thought they would suit him to a T.

"Have you ever blown up a frog?" he asked, half-professionally and half-curiously. He had an idea that these two were almost as good at pranking as he was.

"Only chocolate ones. And that purple one that scared Sirius."

"It's not my fault if Regulus decides to put things in places they ought not to be! How would _you_ have unblocked the toilet?"

At this, Remus guffawed and James collapsed into a fit of giggles, imagining a horrified Sirius confronted by a hysterically croaking toilet. They passed the rest of the journey in much the same way...


End file.
